A guide to eating disorders

Eating disorders now affect more than 1.1million people in Britain - and the numbers are rising.

The illnesses develop because of inner emotional problems. Sufferers often feel that their way of eating gives them some form of control over their lives.

These disorders can affect anyone of any age although women aged 15-25 are most at risk. Nine out of ten sufferers are women, but the number of men with eating disorders is currently on the rise.

Treatment involves both re-establishing a healthy eating pattern and solving the sufferer's emotional problems. Although some sufferers have eating disorders all their lives, the majority will recover with treatment.

Below is a guide to the main different types of eating disorders in the UK. Click on the links at the bottom of the page to find out how to treat eating disorders, for myths and facts about these illnesses, your questions answered and much more.

ANOREXIA NERVOSA

This is probably the best known of all eating disorders. One in a hundred women in the UK between the ages of 15 and 30 suffers anorexia. Sufferers restrict the amount they eat and drink - often to dangerous levels - in an attempt to cope with and control their life.

However the illness actually takes control of their body as the chemical changes in their body affect the brain and distort a sufferer's thinking, making it impossible for them to make rational decisions about food. Rarely people can die of the condition.

The warning signs

The first obvious sign of anorexia is extreme weight loss. Other symptoms include constipation and stomach pains, dizzy spells and fainting, swollen stomach face and ankles, downy hair on the body or loss of hair on the head when recovering, poor blood circulation, disrupted periods and loss of libido.

Sufferers will also develop an intense fear of gaining weight, a distorted perception of their body shape, will usually deny that they have a problem and show changes in personality.

They may also become secretive, restless and hyperactive, wear baggy clothes, develop certain rituals when they eat food such as cutting things up into pieces, vomit and take laxatives.

BULIMIA NERVOSA

This condition, only officially recognised as an illness 30 years ago, involves the sufferer eating large quantities of food, then purging them from their bodies by either vomiting or by taking laxatives - or by exercising excessively. Sufferers do this because they have an emotional need that can not be satisfied.

Bulimia is now the most common eating disorder in Britain. It tends to affect older women than anorexia - one or two in every hundred. Bulimia is relatively rare in men.

The frequency of cycles of bulimia vary greatly from person to person. Some sufferers only have an episode once a month, for example, while others may binge and purge several times a day.

Some people may eat socially but be bulimic in private.

Sufferers can also have different attitudes to their illness. Some may not regard it as a problem, whilst others may fear the situation they are in.

The warning signs

Bulimia is more difficult to spot than anorexia because the sufferers rarely lose weight as dramatically. People living with or working closely with bulimics may even not be able to spot the illness and it may go undetected for many years.

Physical symptoms of bulimia include frequent weight changes, disappearing to the toilet after meals in order to vomit, a sore throat or tooth decay, swollen salivary glands, poor skin, irregular periods and lethargy.

Other symptoms include uncontrollable urges to eat vast amounts of food, an obsession with food, a distorted perception of body weight and shape, anxiety and depression, low self-esteem and feelings of isolation.

Bulimics also often use laxatives, go through periods of fasting and excessive exercise, become secretive and reluctant to socialise and may even begin shoplifting for food.

BINGE EATING

This type of eating disorder has only been recognised recently, but is thought to affect around ten per cent of people with eating disorders. It affects both men and women equally. Sufferers find themselves bingeing uncontrollably, but unlike bulimics, do not purge themselves of food afterwards.

Around one in ten binge eaters is obese. However many binge eaters feel so guilty after eating vast amounts of food that they then starve themselves as punishment. However this often sets up a dangerous cycle because after starving themselves for a period of time they will often be so hungry that they will binge eat again.

The warning signs

There are several signs of binge eaters: eating more rapidly than usual, eating large amounts of food when not hungry, eating alone because they are ashamed of the quantities of food consumed, eating until they feel uncomfortably full and feeling ashamed, depressed or guilty after bingeing.

Click on the links below to find out how to treat eating disorders, myths and facts about these illnesses, your questions answered and much more.